The Trouble With Love
by bittersweetblonde
Summary: For some love seems simple, amazing and wonderful, for others, it's complicated, confusing and heartbreaking. (Oneshot)


Hello, remember me? I'm so sorry I haven't posted a fic or updated New Beginnings in so long. As those of you that read it know, I put it on hiatus. I'm sorry to say that for the time being it still is, but I do have this new oneshot for you so who knows, from writing this I might get back into it again?

Anyway this was inpsired by some heartbreak today, so it might not be the happiest of fics, but I hope you like it all the same.

**The Trouble With Love.**

Fairytales; they're all lies. They're all made up, fabricated stories that we get told as children. We believe them, we believe that princesses fall in love with princes, that love is wonderful, that there's always a happy ever after...there's not.

For ten years, I'd been in love with a guy I'd known since High School. He was hardly a prince though, but then again I was hardly a princess. We'd cheated on my best friend. Lucas had been her boyfriend to begin with and somehow we ended up in a horrible love triangle. I should have known then that things wouldn't work out, but at the time they had.

It hadn't been easy, but Brooke eventually came around to the idea of Lucas and I being together and for a good year, we were, but then things changed.

I still don't know who's fault it was. His, mine? We could both have been to blame.

He'd turned up in L.A where I was doing an internship at a record company. We'd not been graduated long from High School. He was at college and I was out there, we'd hardly seen each other. So you can imagine my shock when he turned up and asked me to marry him!

I'd thought about how to word it carefully when I asnwered him. Even though we hadn't seen each other much, I still loved him, I still wanted him to be my boyfriend...just not my husband.

I hadn't given him a no, instead I gave him a someday and it was the truth! I DID want to marry him someday, just not right then. We were still so young with our whole lives ahead of us! Just because his brother was married with a baby it didn't mean we all had to follow suit!

Lucas hadn't taken it well though. He'd taken my 'someday' as a 'no' and couldn't see past it, so much so that he couldn't even see a future for us!

He'd left the next day, taking my heart with him! I couldn't get my head around it at first. This wasn't the Lucas I knew. This wasn't the same guy who once told me he'd wait forever for me if he had to!

My motto of people always leaving had struck yet again, only this time it was a person that I never thought would!

I was heartbroken for a good few months, but I felt more heartbroken since I'd returned home to Tree Hill.

Brooke and I had decided to go back. She wasn't happy out in New York and I wasn't happy in L.A. I wasn't expecting a big welcome home, we hadn't seen our friends for four years after all, but everyone was really welcoming and seemed happy to have us return.

There was one who wasn't though. Lucas. I'd seen him at the rivercourt the first night I was back. I'd stupidly thought on the plane that maybe I could apologise to him for not saying yes to his proposal or maybe he'd apologise for asking so hastily, hell maybe we could even try again, but it seemed my head was as high in the clouds as the plane was! When I did see him, I told him I missed him, his responce was to back away and tell me he had someone.

Of course he did. He was the perfect guy! Why would he still be single?

Things had been a little strained since. It felt awkward seeing him, it felt awkward seeing his girlfriend and it felt even worse seeing them together.

Unlike me, he'd moved on. I'd tried dating other people since we broke up, but I found myself looking for him in every one of them and they weren't matching up.

Brooke had tried to play matchmaker for me since we'd been home and tonight had been another dating disaster, but something was about to make it worse.

"Can I get a bottle of champagne please?" I heard a familiar voice ask Owen as I sat at the bar.

"Celebrating something?" Owen asked as he grabbed one.

"Hopefully." Lucas replied, getting his money out.

"I'm going to ask Lindsey to marry me." He said and it was at that point tht I turned around and he finally noticed I'd been sat there.

I don't know whose face dropped first, but I'm sure his wasn't in devastation like mine.

"Peyton, I..." He began, sounding a little guilty, but I just shook my head, plastered on a smile and hugged him.

"I hope she says yes." I managed to say and although he gave me a small smile when we pulled away, I could see he felt bad and as I thought back to our past and all the things he'd said, he had every reason to.

After all, how can someone you've known for over a decade, someone who told you they loved you and would wait for you and wanted to marry you, suddenly leave you and marry someone else?

"Are you ok?" Owen asked after Lucas paid for the bottle and walked out of Tric.

"Yeah, sometimes you've just got to let the ones who got away, walk away." I replied.


End file.
